updated 11:05 am EDT, Thu September 4, 2008

No iTunes subscriptions?

Regular shoppers at the iTunes Store should not expect any announcements on the content side of the equation in the near future, rumors indicate. CNET cites anonymous sources, who say that people should not expect Apple to announce any new music content at its special iPod event on September 9th. More specifically, the sources claim they are certain Apple will not introduce a long-rumored subscription option for iTunes.

Such a service would compete with the likes of Rhapsody and Napster, which offer people an effectively unlimited supply of tracks for a monthly fee, at the expense of permanent ownership. One option Apple is said to have contemplated involves offering unlimited iTunes access with the addition of a premium to iPods and iPhones; even if the company wanted something like this, however, its major-label licenses are said by sources to be limited to current download schemes.

In a similar manner, the sources say that people should not expect a Last.fm-style social networking site announced anytime soon, because this would require licenses for streaming.

What? iTunes ISN'T going to break with their business model foundation and mantra? Apple ISN't going to break away from the most popular and most successful, and increasingly so, online music sales model and go with one that has shown to be at best mediocre in sales and at worst a proven loser?

Maybe if there was a surge in subscription based sales, they might consider it. Keep in mind that Apple is minimalist by nature when it comes to software interface and features.

Forecasted likelihood: as much as h*** freezing over. Sure, it's happened a time or two in this industry, but that's over decades...